The fate of Twinkies, and other bakery products made by Hostess, may hang in the balance, but whatever the outcome, Kewanee will still have it’s own “Twinkie” — the dog, that is.

Kewanee’s four-legged “Twinkie” belongs to Frank and Elaine Dillow and may outlast the place where her master worked until recently.

Frank Dillow retired six weeks ago from the Hostess/Wonder Bread Thrift Shop on Tenney Street, just before last week’s announcement that Hostess was ceasing operations nationally. A popular source of bakery products in Kewanee for many years, the outlet shop will be sorely missed if Hostess folds and the Dillows may actually have the last “Twinkie” in town.

Frank started working at the thrift shop 14 years ago after he and Elaine managed the Kewanee Dairy Queen 14 years before that.

A year after being employed at the Hostess outlet, Frank and Elaine got a dog — a Shih Tzu — from a breeder in Eldridge, Iowa. “It was going to be either ‘Twinkie’ or ‘Cupcake,’” said Frank. The little hairball has a twinkle in her eyes which may have helped them choose.

Now 13 years old, “Twinkie” shows no signs of slowing down — guarding the Dillows’ home on Circle Drive and greeting reporters and other visitors at the front door to make sure they pass the security check. The TSA could use “Twinkie” at one of their airports.

“Twinkie” has also traveled to Washington State to visit relatives — hers and her masters’.

Frank, who volunteers on a regular basis at the Kewanee Animal Shelter, may no longer be stocking the shelves with two-packs of the cellophane-wrapped confection, but he’ll always have a “Twinkie” waiting for him when he comes home.